Tim Burton Biography

I was inspired to write about Tim Burton just based on the fact the he is a cool guy, his movies are amazing and I love his creative style when it comes to directing.

“I've always been misrepresented. You know I could dress in a clown costume and laugh with the happy people but they'd still say I'm a dark personality.” Born Timothy William Burton on August 25, 1958, in Burbank California, Tim was never the one who did well in school. Instead Tim found his calling in painting, drawing and movies, especially old monster movies. Tim grew up surrounded by many film and T.V. studios one of which was Disney, were he one day worked as an animator. Burton did not enjoy being an animator, not one little bit (Collective). But Disney recognized his potential and he was allowed to be a conceptual artist. Even then his drawings were not that of the usual “Cute Fluffy Bunny” drawings. So, once again Disney let him go off on his own projects. These included a poem and artwork that years later would become “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, the animated short “Vincent”, and the live-action short “Frankenweenie” (Collective). This is where Tim found his calling as an out of the box creative director, and in some cases producer. Although Burton has never failed to dazzle audiences with quirky sense of creativity, his love of all things different and love of directing, he has never strayed away from his individuality.

In the early years of Tim Burton’s life and career, Tim always had of love for movies. Especially ones that featured his idol, Vincent Price. When he worked with Disney, he got the ok to make a six minute tribute to said idol, “going on to win many awards (The Internet Movie Database).” The movie Vincent was an important project to Tim Burton because it was his only time to show what his real talents were. Because he stayed true to his eccentric roots, Vincent was a success. This is an important event in Tim Burton’s life because it “marked Burton’s first critical success (Flixster).” This significant in Burton’s life because it set the stage for all his other movies, it let everyone know “This is what my movies are like.” After the successes of Vincent, Burton decided that “Rather than jump into making another blockbuster, Burton used his new clout to get an extremely personal project green lit by 20th Century Fox. Edward Scissorhands was the first time Burton had full creative control over a feature film, having written the story and also produced the movie. The film was a hit with moviegoers and critics, and marked the beginning of Burton being taken seriously as an artist (Collective).” Burton’s Scissorhands was an exact reality of his artist vision. Johnny Depp’s portray of the unruly haired, shy outcast that was Edward Scissorhands himself, was what movie goers remember the most about Tim Burton’s film. “Anchored by a stunning, Keatonesque performance from Depp, Scissorhands is a work of whimsical style and substance, made by a director at the height of his imaginative powers (Andac).”This is an important event in Tim Burton’s life because it was proof that he had made his mark on the film industry with creative and visionary works.

Besides how amazing visually Tim’s movies , Tim is known for little quirky trademarks that he always has in almost every single movie he makes from elegant curls to frequently working with certain actors or actresses. One of his trademarks his is main characters. “His main characters tend to be outsiders, and are usually shy, with a pale complexion and unruly black hair, similar to his own (Flixster).” One fine example of this trademark in action is the main character in Edward Scissorhands. His character had Tim Burton’s trademark down to a tee. Burton had Johnny Depp ‘s character in a tight black suit, a pale complexion and very unruly hair. Burton’s character is now very well known in the world. In fact, this may not have been Burton’s best movie but it was his most original movie as of yet. ” This strange character is, symbolically at least, Burton himself (Andac).” This movie is an important part in Burton’s life because it proved that no matter what Burton was going to stick to his roots and make movies in his vision, not the company’s vision.

Although Burton has never failed to dazzle audiences with quirky sense of creativity, his love of all things different and love of directing, he has never strayed away from his individuality. Tim Burton has had many ups and down in his life but he has never failed in making movies in his vision. He has always stuck to his roots. This is only one of the many things people can learn from Burton, to be themselves to the very end. Things can be learned from Tim Burton, but what strikes you the most is that he has always been true to himself.

Subscribe

Get Teen Ink’s 48-page monthly print edition. Written by teens since 1989.